STORIES OF SERVICE IN MUSIC AND PROSE – ARMY AND COAST GUARD

Dale Throneberry hosts our guests:

George Meldrum – Vietnam Infantryman, 1968-1972Chuck Jones – Nashville Songwriter and PerformerCapt. Steven J. Craig (ret) – Coast Guard Reserves, author

I was playing drums and doing vocals in a blues band when I was drafted in May of 1968. That was before the lottery and I was surprised one day at the mailbox with the letter ordering me to report to the induction center.

I have no pictures of me or James O’Banion, the “buddy” for which this song was inspired. There was a very low point in my life where I didn’t want to think about the war and I got rid of everything; including every picture I had. After serving a little less than 4 years I briefly returned to performing music. However, that ended when I had to sell my drums to support a move to Salem, Oregon.

50 years later I started playing and performing again and currently perform locally doing a wide variety of music.

“ALL PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR”

It was late November—one of the coldest periods to be on a ship near Alaska. The Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis had run aground during a severe storm and was taking on water. The engine room flooded, disabling the engines. Mountainous seas and gale force winds pounded the Jarvis, and to make matters worse, the ship was floating toward a rocky coastline that would surely destroy it and probably kill most, if not all, of the men.

The ship’s captain ordered an emergency message be sent to the Seventeenth Coast Guard District Office in Juneau requesting Coast Guard assistance. But there were no Coast Guard assets near enough to provide immediate help.

At 7:04 p.m., for one of the few times in Coast Guard history, a MAYDAY call for help would come from a Coast Guard vessel.